


Invisible String

by dwj



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode: s07e13 Grace, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:29:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29414160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwj/pseuds/dwj
Summary: Set during 7x13 Grace, slightly au Sam/Jack
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Comments: 14
Kudos: 28
Collections: Stargate Winter Fic Exchange 2020-21





	Invisible String

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Regency](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Regency/gifts).



> hello! so this is my piece for the Stargate winter fic exchange, my recipient is Regency and i really hope you like it!
> 
> so the prompt i went with was essentially a Grace au of sorts, where Jack is actually on the Prometheus with Sam. this explores the idea that jack does in fact appear to Sam, but as far as they're both aware, Jack is dreaming and Sam is hallucinating. ive rehashed the scene to be mainly from Jack's pov, any recognised dialogue had been borrowed from the episode but i have given it my own twist.
> 
> i actually spoke with a friend about how to make it possible for Jack to be on the Prometheus with Sam, and much like Jack's ancient gene allows him to control the technology of the ancients we thought would it be a complete stretch that he could somehow access other vessels? perhaps. perhaps not. anyway, thats the idea i went with. its not explicitly mentioned in the fic so if people want to make up their own theories on how Jack could have appeared to Sam, or if he was even there at all? then ill leave that up to you guys.
> 
> anyway, enough rambling i hope you all enjoy!!

**Invisible String.**

The first thing Jack became aware of was that he had no idea where the hell he was or how the hell he had gotten there. He tried to recall his last memory but drew a blank, his mind in a haze for some reason. He'd been looking for Carter, that much he did remember. They had been ticking off the planets on Daniel's list which had Stargate's in the vicinity of the Prometheus' course, thus far coming up empty, much to Jack's lack of surprise. The Tok'ra were supposedly otherwise indisposed too and they were running out of options.

They were running out of options and Jack was running out of patience, it was these frustrations that had him wondering _where_ exactly he had ended up before realising it was the Prometheus. Finding out the where only added to his frustrations as it unlocked another question, _how_ exactly had he ended up on the vessel?

Confusion and anger battled for the front row seat in his mind as he set off through the corridors in search of the crew and Sam. If he truly had been brought onto the ship then they had to be around here somewhere.

He had no idea how long he had been wondering the ship, since when did the Prometheus have this many damn rooms and corridors? He'd yet to come across any of the crew, or anyone for that matter and was beginning to wonder if his lack of sleep had caught up to him and dragged him into some kind of nightmare.

Walking through yet another corridor, one he was sure he had already passed at least twice since his appearance on the ship, he stopped dead when he caught sight of a familiar face. Carter, well at least she looked like Carter, was sat in the room just off the corridor he was passing through, she was on the ground with her back against the wall but otherwise seemed ok.

"Carter?" His voice held a touch of concern as he called out to her.

Sam looked out into the corridor and surprise crossed her features for just a moment before she leaned her head back against the wall behind her and let out a sigh.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up."

She sounded tired, _looked_ tired and Jack wore a frown as he walked in and crossed the room to where she was sitting.

"What's going on Carter?"

He sat down across from her, vaguely noticing how his knees didn't protest the movement as they usually would.

"I'm tired, Sir."

She was, so tired, in every sense of the word and she wasn't sure how much more she could take.

Jack was dreaming, he had to be, it was the only explanation as to why he was apparently on the Prometheus with Sam, just Sam so it seemed when she and the entire crew were MIA.

"Did you come to give me a pep talk?"

Her voice cut through the momentary silence that had lapsed between the pair, the ghost of a smile on her lips.

The question only worked to confuse Jack further, he _was_ dreaming, right? He glanced down at himself to find he wasn't wearing his BDU's which he had definitely been wearing before he had appeared on the ship. It ruled out the small inkling he'd been having that Thor had somehow gotten word of what was going on and had beamed Jack to Sam's location. However, ruling out that option still didn't explain the vividity of this apparent dream he was having.

"I could ask you the same question." He finally retorted, looking back at her.

"Sir?"

Her tone was full of question but he held up a hand before she could continue, letting out a sigh.

"Can we just drop the _Sir_ , please?"

His request was almost pleading, they were reminded of their ranks on a daily basis and he couldn't stamp down the slight irritation he felt that she would still refer to him as _Sir_ even in his dreams.

"Old habits, sorry."

He sighed.

"I'm sorry too."

She didn't look good and he wondered if this was his minds way of reminding him what she had and still was potentially going through whilst he was, _sleeping?_ With a frustrated groan, he closed his eyes and scrubbed his hands down his face in an attempt to wake himself. When he opened his eyes and found Carter staring back at him _still,_ he was beginning to wonder if he was actually asleep after all.

"What are you sorry for?"

Was this a joke? She sounded genuinely surprised by his apology, what was she looking for exactly? For him to list off all the things he had fucked up when it came to the two of them. Right now he was sorry she was going through whatever the hell was happening to her and the others from the Prometheus whilst he took a _nap_. He was sorry for keeping the door to _the room_ locked for so many years even though he knew, as did Sam that it was the only way. He was sorry for not being there for her when she needed him, as a friend, the very most they were allowed to be given their positions and the very least he owed her, and yet he'd still failed her.

"I'm sorry for a lot of things Carter."

A look of sadness crossed Sam's features and a quiet ' _Sir'_ fell from her lips like a sigh.

They lapsed into a short silence, both wrapped up in their own thoughts before Sam ultimately spoke up.

"If things were different."

Who was she trying to kid?

"Carter."

"What if I quit the airforce? Would that make a difference or is it just an excuse?"

Jack shook his head at the ridiculous suggestion, he had to believe it was a figment he was talking to because Sam, the real Sam would never give up her career for him, _would she?_

"I would never ask you to give up your career."

Hell, he wouldn't _let_ her even if she did broach the subject with him in real life one day.

"Because you don't feel anything for me?" Sam's tone held a touch of bitterness which caught Jack off guard.

"Sam." He warned.

"I'd let you go right now if I knew."

It pained him to hear her say it, even if it wasn't truly her saying it. He knew he was being selfish by keeping her in limbo about his feelings, because either way it wouldn't, _couldn't_ , change anything.

Instead he raised an eyebrow and gave her the ghost of smirk.

"That easy?" He asked her.

He was being an ass but she didn't rise to it, instead she appeared to get sadder and broke from his gaze with a sigh.

"I didn't say it would be easy."

His face fell and guilt washed over him, he was tired, as ironic as it sounded and so damn frustrated. Taking his frustrations out on Sam hadn't been his intention, regardless of whether she was actually his Sam or not. He wanted to reach out to her but wasn't even sure if he could, instead he decided to do the only thing he knew he could, it would probably be the only time he would get to.

"I do." His tone was softer than before, Sam lifted her gaze back to him but remained silent so he continued.

"I never stopped, Sam."

Jack swallowed, he felt relieved and scared shitless all at the same time even though he knew none of it really mattered. Sam looked as though she was about to speak but he shook his head slightly and gave a small shrug.

"But it still doesn't change anything." He told her, his voice full of regret.

"Why not?"

Sam knew she was being unreasonable, knew exactly why they couldn't be together regardless of any feelings they may or may not have for each other but it wasn't like she was talking to the _real_ Jack O'Neill anyway so in that moment she didn't care.

"Neither of us can leave the airforce Sam, not right now anyway, even if we wanted to."

He'd threatened re-retirement numerous times since his first official reinstation to the airforce, despite most of them being out of anger and/or grief and usually brushed off by his superiors, there had been a few occasions where he had seriously considered leaving. In short, he had been given a solid no. There was still a war that needed to be fought, a team that needed their leader, something about him being too big of an asset to let go. For now anyway. If they had deemed him too valuable then Carter wouldn't stand a chance if she really decided to try and leave the program.

"So what do we do?"

Jack sighed, he knew what he wanted to do, that hadn't changed and he wasn't sure if it ever would but unfortunately what he wanted didn't matter.

"I don't know." He answered honestly.

With a small nod, Sam pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and gave herself a moment to think. She was wasting very real time by arguing with what she assumed to be simply a figment of her imagination, but it made her feel better somehow, to hear him say he still had feelings for her, even if it wasn't truly him saying it. Or so she thought.

"But no matter what happens, I will always be there for you."

He would be. Even if she moved on, something he selfishly didn't want her to do despite ultimately wanting her to find happiness, he would remain at her side as her friend if that's all they were destined to be.

She didn't say anything for a moment but then pushed off from the wall behind her and crossed the short distance to where he was sitting. He made no effort to stop her, his knees parting to give her room to slip between them and her name fell from his lips in a whisper right before they met hers.

Oh.

Jack hadn't anticipated _this_ but he wasn't about to complain. Sam kneeled between his thighs, her hands on the back of his neck, keeping him where she wanted him. His settled on her waist from the moment their lips met but he brought one to cup her cheek once he had recovered from the initial surprise, drawing her in for another kiss whilst the other remained on her waist, his fingers gently curling around her hip.

He and Carter had shared a handful of kisses throughout their time working together, most of which had occurred when one or both were under the influence of something alien or there was the one time he'd kissed Doctor Carter from the parallel universe. There had only been one occasion that they had kissed in which it had truly been the two of them partaking, during the time loop that only he and Teal'c were aware of. Ok, so maybe it hadn't just been the _one kiss_ but he thought it would be the only time he would get to do it, and it wasn't as if Carter had been an unwilling participant at any point. The only downside was that once the day restarted, everyone apart from him and Teal'c forgot about the previous days events, which meant that although Jack would have the memory of their kiss forever etched in his mind, Sam did not.

He'd never told her about the kisses, a willing participant she might have been, Jack couldn't help but feel like she might be slightly pissed to learn that they had shared something she would never be able to recall. Perhaps he would tell her one day, if they made it through in one piece and the universe finally decided to cut them a break, maybe she wouldn't completely hate him if he were in a position to make it up to her.

The kiss he was currently locked in, it reminded him of the kisses he'd shared with Carter during the loops. Maybe it was his mind using the memories as a reference but he'd be staggered to believe it wasn't truly Sam in his arms right now if it wasn't for the pang in his heart when he remembered that she was missing. Missing and going through god only knows what whilst he was trapped in his own head making out like a teenager with a dream version of her.

Just as he was beginning to consider ending the albeit quite wonderful moment, the room they were in shook around them and Sam pulled away. She wore a mixed expression of both forlorn at having ended the kiss but also worried at whatever the cause of the quake might have been. Jack regarded her silently, letting her go as she shuffled back out of his space.

"I gotta go." She told him, her tone full of determination and a touch of _regret?_

Jack nodded, watching as she stood and headed for the door that led back into the corridor but paused at the threshold, looking back to him as though she wanted to say something but couldn't quite find the words to do so. It was one thing admitting to the _feelings_ they had for each other but giving said feelings a name was apparently something neither of them could do, not even when they believed it wasn't truly the other they were talking to.

He knew what she wanted to say, perhaps it was because this was all technically in his head, Sam was trying to tell him something he had longed to hear though knew she would never be able to say it, not as long as they held the positions they did. He wanted to say the same thing, maybe he would one day, regs be damned.

"Me too Sam." He told her instead.

It made Sam smile to hear him say it, filled her heart with a warmth that rejuvenated some of the hope that perhaps one day they would get the chance to say it to each other.

"Now, go save your ass."

She was clearly in the middle of something in this dreamscape and he wondered if the succession was linked to his own task of finding her and the others and bringing them home.

They shared one last smile and then she was gone. He watched her until she disappeared from view, it was then that he finally felt the pull of reality, bringing him out of his mind and back into the present.

* * *

Lifting his head from his folded arms he'd apparently been using as a pillow, Jack instantly recognised his surroundings. He was in Carter's lab, but more specifically he was at the SGC, _back_ at the SGC? Memories of Carter and the Prometheus flickered through his mind, the conversation they'd shared, _the kiss._

Carter.

She was still missing, along with the rest of the crew from the Prometheus. Scrubbing a hand down his face with a tired groan, he willed his third wind to kick in and stood. After exhausting every possible option they could think of in their search, Jack had refused the General's suggestion of rest, instead wondering the corridors of the SGC until he found himself in Sam's lab. He hadn't touched anything, for one he didn't trust himself not to accidentally break one of her doohickey's, but he also didn't think she would appreciate coming back and finding her things moved or otherwise disorganised. He hardly ever understood half of what she did in there but for some reason hoped that he would get answers or some kind of guidance on what to do next, or that was what he would tell anyone that asked him why he was in there. He had sat at her desk, bone tired but unwilling to rest, not until he knew she was safe, not until she was back to him.

Unwilling as he'd been, exhaustion had apparently won the battle in the end. He couldn't have been sleeping for long otherwise someone would have awoken him, he also took the lack of disturbance to mean they still hadn't found Sam and the others. With the echos of his dream still present in his mind and exhausted frustration propelling his determination, he left Sam's lab to regroup with his team, but not before making a silent promise that if, no, _when_ , they found her, he wouldn't let things go unsaid any longer.

* * *

She was home. Pretty severely concussed but safe, and back to him. When the Prometheus had finally made contact with the SGC to inform them of their situation, Jack had only been interested in making sure Sam was ok. He'd partially listened to Ronson explain the issue with the hyperdrive and their subsequent run in with an unknown vessel which had resulted in all of them bar Carter being transported aboard the enemy ship. After that his mind had switched to auto pilot, his heart beating painfully in his chest as the Colonel explained Carter's situation. Once they had finally gotten her back to the SGC and to the infirmary, Jack had hung back but remained in the vicinity.

Sam was going to be fine, it wasn't even one of the worser scrapes any of them had been in but it hadn't lessened Jack's worries any. Sure they had been in worse situations, been through worse, but usually they were together when these things happened. Not knowing where they were, not knowing what had happened or what Sam was enduring had left a heavy feeling in his chest. The radio silence across the four days had eaten away at his resolve regarding the _locked room_ situation between him and Carter, the 'talk' they'd had in his _dream?_ had also made him wonder and it scared him to think that he could have lost her without ever telling her how he truly felt about her. It had been a long time since the za'tarc confession, a lot had changed since then but the one thing that had remained a constant were his feelings for her.

Jack had kept vigil whilst they waited for Sam to wake up. Hammond had put SG1 on downtime for the foreseeable and aside from the times that Janet forced him to leave and when duty called, he remained at her bedside. Daniel and Teal'c had stopped by multiple times to check on her but at that point it was merely a waiting game, and wait he would, his worries unable to ease until she was truly back with them.

Planted in a chair across from where Carter was still resting, he had his chin resting upon his palm as he waited for his second in command to wake. He resisted the urge to drag the chair closer to her bed, knew that if he did he wouldn't be able to resist reaching out to her. A sigh passed his lips as their conversation played over in his head once again, he loved her, had for a very long time. He hadn't been able to say the words to the Carter he had spoken to in his dream but the feeling was at the forefront of his mind as he looked over at the real Samantha Carter. He'd told the Carter in his dream that their feelings didn't change anything, that just because they felt something for each other it didn't mean that the regulations no longer existed. It was true, even if the real Sam felt the same way about him as he did her it didn't mean they got a free pass above everyone else. Rules and regulations had plagued his life for decades and truth be told, he'd be more than happy to stick it to the man but it wasn't just his career on the line here, it was Sam's too and he loved her too much to put that in jeopardy.

Lost in his thoughts, he almost missed the slight movement ahead of him. Sam turned her head and caught his eye across the short distance between them and once again he found himself resisting the overwhelming urge to rush over.

"Hey." He called out softly, relief washing over him.

Sam just watched him for a moment, trying to get her bearings and push through the haze caused by her head injury and whatever pain meds Janet had given her.

"Jack?"

Her voice was quiet and held a touch of confusion. The use of his first name caught Jack off guard however and words came tumbling out before he'd had a chance to level his tone.

"Excuse me?"

It was another moment before Sam realised what she had said, she was fighting the pull of sleep she assumed was caused by whatever else Janet had given her alongside the pain medication and shook her head slightly to clear her head.

"Sorry Sir."

Jack felt a stab of guilt at the apology, he hadn't meant for his tone to sound quite so harsh. She really had caught him off guard and he wished for nothing more than a time when they could be just Jack and Sam.

"Yes, well."

He rose from the chair as he spoke, crossing the room to her bed and giving her a soft smile he hoped relayed at least a fraction of the relief he felt at having her back.

"A massive concussion will tend to disorient one."

He stood beside the bed and the pair shared a look, scenes from his dream and her hallucination filtered through their minds despite neither being aware of the others presence at the time.

"How long was I out there?"

Sam's question cut through the short silence. Jack huffed a breath and reached out to pick at a non existent loose thread on her bed sheet before giving a small shrug.

"It's all relative Carter, that whole time space continuum thing." He explained almost casually, trying to quash the angst that threatened to resurface at the mention of her disappearance.

"Sir."

He stopped picking at the sheet and met her gaze once more, he knew exactly how long she had been MIA, could pin it down to the hour from when check in had supposed to have been until when they had finally been contacted by Colonel Ronson to inform them of the situation.

"Four days." He surmised instead and Sam frowned.

"I could have sworn it was weeks."

He gave a short nod in agreement, it might have only been four days but to Jack it had felt like a hell of a lot longer and he could only imagine how much harder than had been for Carter herself. His fingers had subconsciously started fidgeting with the sheet once more and only stilled when he felt a light pressure against them. He looked down to find Carter's fingers gently pressed against his and wordlessly released the sheet, he parted his fingers and she slipped hers between them.

They met each others gaze, both trying to convey thoughts and feelings to the other that they couldn't voice out loud. Sam gave his fingers a small squeeze and he returned the gesture, a small smile playing on both their lips.

"You need anything? Magazine? Yo-yo?" He asked and she shook her head.

"I'm fine."

Jack's smile grew and he nodded, giving her fingers another squeeze.

"When the doc lets you bust outta here we should, talk."

Talk about what exactly? He wasn't completely sure yet. They both knew the potential repercussions and he wouldn't for a second consider putting her career on the line but whatever this _thing_ was between them, it deserved a discussion if nothing else. They owed it to each other, to their continued friendship across both a professional and personal level and to their future selves should they ever reach a point where a relationship became an option.

The classic ' _we should talk'_ line was a sure fire way to set even the most cool, calm and collected person on edge and usually it would but for some reason, perhaps it was his fingers still gently grasping her own, Sam wasn't worried at all. On the contrary, it brought her hope.

"Okay."

She forwent the standard 'Yes, Sir', not to be insubordinate but because she was sure that the conversation he wanted to have with her was as far from work related as they could get and should things go the way she could only dream of, then they would need to learn to separate their professional relationship from their personal one.

They gave each other another few moments before their hands parted and Jack took a step back, slipping both of his hands into the pockets on his BDU's.

"Get some rest Sam."

"Yes, sir."

They shared one last smile before Jack turned and headed out of the infirmary, Sam settled back against her pillow and allowed relief to wash over her, relief to be back and relief that perhaps what she'd experienced whilst on the Prometheus with Jack wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility.


End file.
